Robbers attack PUNCHman in Abuja, steal laptop, phones

A PUNCH reporter, El-Ameen Ibrahim, was on Friday night attacked and robbed by ‘one chance' robbers in a tricycle along Airport Junction, Abuja around 10pm on his way  home from work.

‘One chance' is commonly used in Nigeria to refer to a robbery that takes place when a group of criminals picks up passengers in disguised commercial vehicles, to rob or defraud them.

Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, Ibrahim revealed that the three robbers, including the tricycle rider, were all armed with long sharp knives.

“The attack happened after I closed from the office around 9.30pm on Friday. I was robbed of my laptop, two Android phones, money and other valuables, in the one chance Keke NAPEP from NCC Junction to Airport Junction. I was also assaulted and severely beaten, and they attempted stabbing me,” Ibrahim said.

The PUNCH reports that in recent times, cases of  one chance's robbery have been increasing in the Federal Capital Territory.

One of the recent victims of a ‘one chance,' incident, Greatness Olorunfemi, was reportedly planning to relocate to the United States to further her studies before she was killed.

About one month ago, the FCT Police Command announced the arrest of Chukwudi Ezirike, a wanted ‘one chance' kingpin who was allegedly causing fear along the Kubwa/Zuba highway.

Speaking to journalists at the command's headquarters on Friday, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Haruna Garba, noted that Ezirike's operational vehicle, a blue Golf 3 car with number plate KWL 536 RZ was also recovered by the police.

He further noted that most of the vehicles recovered over such crimes had tinted glasses on them, adding that during a police search, an axe, a cutlass, and one knife suspected to be used in carrying out criminal activities were recovered from the vehicles, adding that three of the suspects arrested in relation to such incidents were under investigation.

The spokesperson for the FCT Police command, Josephine Adeh, could not be reached for comments as of the time of filing this report.